New sister.

Letter That Evening, Zoe came to visit Bassy in the hospital. She brought food and hot water for her, amidst feelings of both thrill and sadness.

Bassy, wondering why Zoe looked worried, asked her if everything was alright.

She answered with a tight-lipped smile, "Yes, why not? You just gave birth successfully."

Bassy glanced at Zoe with a horrified expression. "Hmm, I almost died, like seriously," she said. "At some point, the nurses started giving me pitying looks. They said it was nothing short of a miracle how my baby came out. I could even feel life oozing out of me at some point. I'm so happy I made it."

Zoe peeked at her, terrified. "I'm happy for you too," she said with a sigh of relief. "He looks so much like Edu."

"Please, can you stop calling that name," Bassy cut her short, causing a smirk to appear on Zoe's face. "He's a mix of both of you. He has your beautiful brown eyes, but I still can't hide the truth."

"I like the birthmark under his chin. It makes him look special," Zoe added in an attempt to please Bassy. "Of course, my child will always be special," Bassy replied with a smile.

Zoe made Bassy forget her sorrows for a while that night as she kept coming up with funny stories about what was happening in school and praising her for being a young mom.

They didn't sleep all night as the baby kept waking up every one or two hours to suck Bassy's breast.

The following morning, Zoe left the hospital very early to get ready for school. When she got home, her parents scolded her for spending the whole night in the hospital. Her father wanted to beat her, but her mother pleaded on her behalf. Her dad warned her never to go near Bassy again because they were now completely different people. He instructed his wife to take all of Zoe's belongings to her wherever she was, as he never wanted to see her foot in his house again.

It wasn't a bad idea for Zoe's mom, as she had already decided to send Bassy away before. Bassy had no idea Zoe's mom had already planned to send her away. She was tossing her neck at the door at each sound she heard from behind, patiently waiting for Zoe's mom to bring her something to eat since she hadn't eaten anything since morning and it was already after.

A sigh of relief washed over her when she finally saw Zoe's mom walking into the hospital from the window. She was holding a big sack bag and walking rapidly towards the building.

Nurse Dule, the lady who helped her pay for the hospital bills, walked in together with Bassy's mom. She opened the door for her with a warm smile, directing her to a plastic chair. "We've been waiting for you since morning, ma," Nurse Dule said with a warm smile.

"Waiting for me for what?" Zoe's mom interrupted. "Am I her mother?" she uttered with a furious tone.

Dule and Bassy were startled by her sudden reaction. Bassy greeted her as she walked in, but she answered with a tight lip.

It was as if she hit Bassy with something heavy on the head with her strict words. "I've brought your clothes for you. My husband said you can't live with us anymore," she forced her tone to sound sympathetic. "I'll advise you to go and plead with your mother's sister. Even if it means sleeping on her corridor until she decides to have compassion on you. I believe you know that Edu was actually the one who got you pregnant because this child really looks like him. But I can't bear the consequences for a crime I didn't commit. It's either you go to Oyo's house or your aunt's house. I'm sure one of them will have mercy on you because you didn't commit an unforgivable crime. I changed your bag for you since the one you came with was looking too ugly," she drooped.

Bassy couldn't hold back her tears anymore as she dropped the bag and walked out of the room. She thought this melancholy had ended, but right now, it felt like the beginning of a new low.

Dule entered inside to find Bassy crying silently. She felt pity for her and went to buy food for her to eat, comforting her, telling her not to worry and that everything would be alright.

Throughout that day, Bassy couldn't stop thinking of where she would go. The pain she felt in her body was nothing compared to the pain going on in her head. She kept having flashbacks of Edu and her in bed, remembering how he gently helped her to wipe the blood that came out from her body during sex, telling her not to be shy about it because it's usual when he noticed how shy she was about him wiping blood off her private parts with a tissue.

The cry of her baby that just woke up from sleep snapped her out of her inner turmoil. She looked at the baby with disgust, resisting the urge to pick him up.

Dule, who was walking in the hallway, heard the baby's cry and opened the door, wondering if his mom wasn't there, only to see Bassy staring at the baby with ceaseless tears in her eyes.

"Bassy, what are you doing?" she said with a tone slightly above a whisper. "Do you want to kill yourself and your child?"

"I wish to just die. As for the baby, I don't care," she stimulated. "I don't even have anywhere to go. What kind of mother am I? What kind of life will I give my children?" she spoke with a teary choke.

"It's okay, Bassy. I'll talk to my husband when I get home. If he can allow you to stay with us for a while, I'm sure he will because I've told him a lot about you and he feels rage for Edu. I'm sure he will agree. I've told you countless times not to be too hard on yourself. Everything will be fine," Nurse Dule assured her with a kind tone.

Her words of encouragement and hope prompted Bassy to carry her crying baby up to start breastfeeding. Nurse Dule stayed with them for a while saying things that would drift Bassy's mind from her situation, before leaving to attend to other patients.

The following day, Dule came to give Bassy the good news that her husband accepted her. She brought food and baby milk for Bassy. In the evening, after she had closed for the day, Bassy and her went home together with her baby and all her property.

She bought baby clothes for Bassy's child and adult clothes for Bassy herself, as all her clothes were already looking old and saggy.

Out of amusement of a completely stranger has done for her, Bassy brought out 30 thousand naira from her bag and handed it over to Dule. "This is the money Edu gave to me the day he traveled," she uttered. "He said I should use it to buy things for myself, but I decided to save it instead. I would have used it long ago, though, but Oyo and Zoe's mom fed me while I lived with them, so there wasn't any need. Moreover, I knew a time would come when the money would be very helpful to me."

"I can never pay you back for everything you've done for me. I just want to use this money to support you, even if I know it's not enough. But that's all I have."

Dule was puzzled. She became speechless for a while. "I'm amused you could save it for that long, amidst all the difficulties you've been through. But you don't have to give it to me. I'm not taking it from you. Use it to start up a small business so that you can afford your child's school fees when he grow up. You know you can't live with me forever, right?"

"Thank you so much, Nurse Dule. God will repay you for all that you've done for me," a tear of joy gushed from Bassy's eye.

"The only favor I'll ask of you, Bassy," Dule narrowed her gaze, looking into Bassy's eyes, "is to avoid my husband. I know he is a womanizer, which is why I couldn't ask you to follow me home the day your aunt sent you out. I also know he's not a rapist, so he'll never force you to sleep with him if you don't want to. Please let me know if he says anything like that to you so that I'll know what to do about it on time. I promise to take you as my sister, and I believe you won't make me regret it."

For the first time since Bassy had known Dule, she heard her sounding mean. This, too, was a new layer to their relationship.